Bond girl, a stroke survivor, takes bigger steps

Lynn-Holly Johnson had roles in more than a dozen movies including "Ice Castles" and "For Your Eyes Only." She had a stroke three years ago and is now almost fully recovered. KEVIN SULLIVAN, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 4

Lynn-Holly Johnson and Robby Benson play young lovers in a scene from "Ice Castles," a 1978 film about youth and the search for success. PHOTO COURTESY OF LYNN-HOLLY JOHNSON

Lynn-Holly Johnson, the star of "Ice Castles" and a Bond girl in "For Your Eyes Only," had a stroke in 2010. Luckily, she retained her ability to walk and talk. But for three years, she has struggled to reclaim her brain.

She lost a lot during that fight. For example, she has very little memory of her father's death. He died of pancreatic cancer just a few months after her stroke. ("I guess God didn't want me to see my Dad falling apart," she said. "I remember his smile.")

She had surgery to close the hole in her heart, which is called the patent foramen ovale, or PFO, and appears in 25 percent of the population. Her father, before he fought cancer, suffered a stroke as a result of his PFO. And she was sure her brother, Gregg, had it too, though he didn't want to get tested. But Johnson's PFO was no longer her biggest problem.

•••

She would start a sentence but couldn't finish it. Or she would blurt words out of context. "Rice and beans," she remembers saying to no one in particular. She would be given a minute to name as many animals as she could; she could come up with four.

In those early days, she could stay awake for only three hours at a time. Once, about a month after the stroke, a vacuum cleaner salesman came to her door and she bought one for $2,600. She doesn't know why she did it.

She would be asked to spell a word backward, and she couldn't figure out why someone would need a word spelled backward. So she didn't answer. She would get lost inside the hospital. She would forget where she was. She would be shown a page full of numbers, "and they looked like worms on a page." She had a bracelet made to commemorate her stroke, and she got the date wrong.

"My brain just wanted to go to sleep," Johnson said. "That's what it needed to recover."

Then, with more than a year of therapy at Hoag, her mind started coming back. She worked puzzles and started figuring them out. She walked to unfamiliar parts of a building and found her way back.

Today, she still has difficulty with her memory. And long conversations are "like running a marathon." But she also says she's "walking and talking, which is good."

•••

This month, Johnson called Robby Benson, her "Ice Castles" co-star. It was their first phone conversation since they walked off the movie set in 1978. Benson, post "Ice Castles," starred in movies like "One on One," "Ode to Billy Joe," "Death Be Not Proud" and "Running Brave." He was the voice of the beast in "Beauty and the Beast." He also directed movies and TV shows, including several episodes of "Friends."

Benson also knows heart trouble. He's had four open-heart surgeries, and he's written a book, "I'm Not Dead ... Yet."

When he heard from Johnson, the reconnection was instant.

"Just had the most spectacular conversation with Lynn-Holly," Benson wrote in an email to the Orange County Register. "She is inspirational, just as lovely and compassionate as she was when we worked together. We discussed our families, and how they keep us going. So it's not just a 'line' that sounds good as a p.r. byte – it's oh so true. Thank goodness for the ones we love.

"Our conversation felt like it could've been a week after the movie wrapped."

Both former teenage stars said they were told by doctors that something was wrong with their hearts. But they kept their health issues quiet so they could keep their roles.

"Mentors like Rod Steiger and John Marley told me that if anyone in the business ever gets a hint that you have heart problems, it's career suicide," Benson said. "And I did so many athletic roles ... while I was deteriorating physically."

Benson was impressed that Johnson had been giving speeches on behalf of the American Heart Association. Benson will be the host for the organization's ball in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23.

•••

When she got her senses back, Johnson turned her attention to her brother. She had survived a stroke on a cross-country flight, had battled to regain her cognitive function for more than a year. Still, her brother wasn't moved.

Gregg Johnson saw his father have a stroke, then his sister. But he didn't get his heart examined. Lynn-Holly Johnson was persistent, mailing him articles about the connection between PFO and stroke.

"She was on me, 'You have to do this,'" said Gregg, who is 57. "I resisted. In the back of my mind, I felt this couldn't happen to me."

Then he started having migraines. He still resisted. Then his hand went numb. He still resisted.

It wasn't until a follow-up visit, after the numb hand, that Gregg decided to get his heart checked out. His sister was right. He had a PFO.

In December, he had surgery to close the PFO that, like his sister, had been open since birth.

"I thought my sister would say, 'I told you so.' But she didn't."

Johnson has said all along that if her story could help just one person, then she would be happy to tell it.

"I helped my one person," Johnson said with a smile.

Or did she?

Gregg Johnson is a pilot for United Airlines. His usual flight is 10 hours to Brazil.

Related Links

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.